BACOLOD City – Five public and private schools in the province of Negros Occidental will be competing in the Bago City Invitational Fancy Drill Competition in commemoration of the 125th Al Cinco de Noviembre, or Negros Day, on Nov. 5.
Republic Act No. 6709 declares every 5th of November a special non-working holiday in the province in commemoration of the Negros revolution against the Spanish colonizers in 1898.
The participating schools are Enriqueta Montilla De Esteban National High School in Pulupandan; Lopez Jaena National High School and Minoyan National High School in Murcia; and M.G. Medalla Integrated School and STI-West Negros University in Bacolod City.
A street performance and arena competition at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center will be held in the morning and afternoon, respectively.
The said competition is now in its 12th edition after a hiatus, and it is also the second year of Bago City’s in-person celebration since the pandemic.
This year’s theme is “Honor, ingenuity, and service on with the revolution of progress.”
Mae Ann Furtos, senior tourism operations officer of Bago City, recalled that the very essence of Al Cinco de Noviembre is the ingenuity and bravery of the valiant hero, General Juan Araneta, and his Bagonhon troops, together with the forces from the north led by General Aniceto Lacson.
This is also called a historical bluff, as Bagonhon troops used nipa (coconut fronds) as “rifles” and amakan (rolled bamboo mats) as cannons, which seemed believable from afar and led to the surrender of the Spaniards, Furtos said.
“It was a bloodless revolt, and through it, the Negrenses were freed from the 300-year Spanish tyranny,” she stressed.
The city will start this Sunday’s event with a Thanksgiving mass at 7 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Church./PN
